Wire reeling and unreeling apparatus.



W. H. FENTRESS.

WIRE-REELING AND UNREELING APPARATUS.

APPucATloN FILED ocT. 9` 1916.

ATTORNEY WILLIAM H. FENTRESS, F OSCEOLA,

NEBRASKA.

WIRE REELING AN D UNREELING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lFeb.. t2, 1918 Application filed October 9, 1916. Serial N o. 124,698.

To all whom z'z may concern .7

Be it known that I, WILLIAMv H.A FEN- TREss, a citizen of 'the United States, residing at Usceol'a, in the county Vof Poll; and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TWire Reeling and Unreeling .f pparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in wire reeling and unreeling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus of thev charcan be mounted in an conJunction with an acter described which operative relation in ordinary farm wagon.

An object of my invention is to provide apparatus which may be mounted upon the box of a wagon and is provided with a winding spool upon which the wire is to be reeled as the wagon is drawn forward in line with the extent of the wire, means being provided to transmit motion from the turning of the wagon wheels to cause the winding reel to turn to take up the wire.

A further object is to provide means by which the tension of the motion transmitting means may be adjusted so that as the wire may be drawn in at too great a rate of speed the turning of the winding reel or drum will be slowed down or may even be stopped to allow time for the wagon to be drawn a sufficient distance that slack will occur in the wire.`

Yet another object is to so arrange the parts that securing means is provided which permits attachment of the apparatus in the proper mounting upon wagon boxes of varied sizes and dimensions and placingr of the device at a point upon the wagon box where the most etlicient operation will be ac complished.

A still further object lies in providing means to guide the wire as the same may be wound upon or unreeled from the drum, and in providing a special form of reel or drum which will yhold rolls of wire of various sizes.

lV ith the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter set forth in connection with the drawings and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:- Figure l is a plan View of the rear portion of a wagon with the apparatus of my ivention fitted thereon in the propel' position for use.

p Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation lof the parts as disclosed in Fig, l.

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4`l of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

F ig. 5 isa detail view showing a modified form of wire holding reel.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view to better show the adjustment feature of the reel illustrated in F ig. 5.

The wagon box l is of any desired type and construction and is supported on the axle 2, which .in turn is carried by the wheels 3 and e', and as the device of my invention is constructed in its several parts, as will be more clearly hereinafter set forth, so that it is adaptable for use upon any form of wagon and wagon body, it is not essential that the parts as above set forth be of any particular form or be mounted in any predetermined arrangement.

A bearing casing 5 is made of sufficient length that it will lit entirely across `the wagon box and will extend over at each side thereof. .A shaft 6 is mounted through this bearing casing 5 and has extension at both ends thereof, the friction wheels 7 and S be- 'mg mounted on the extended end of thel shaft 6, and the shaft at one end being so.

disposed that it has a peripheral extent beyoud the mounting of the friction wheel which is carried at that end. It is to be understood that the friction wheels 7 and 8 are rigidly secured on the shaft so that as these wheels are turned the shaft will be given turning movement.

Securing rods 9 and l0 are provided with loops at their ends to receive the ends of the caring casing and these securing rods are made suiiiciently long that the free ends thereof may be fitted through openings provided in the plate 1l which is made of sutlicient length that it will lit entirely across the wagon box beneath the floor thereof. The free ends of the securing rods 9 and l0. as passed through the plate 1l are screw threaded and the clamp nuts 12 are provided to be turned onto these ends to bear against the plate l1 and to thus hold the bearing casing 5 secured on the upper edges of the side board of the wagon box.

This securement of the bearing casing 5 in the relation as mentioned will hold the shaft 6 in such relation that the friction wheels 7 and 8 will be fitted against the rims of the wheels 3 and 4, but no means is provided to insure that the proper bearing of the wheels will be maintained as the wagon is moved across the field or in line with the wire or the path in which the same is to be unreeled. Brace rods 13 and 14 are provided at their ends with loops adapted to be received over the bearing casing 5 and springs 15 and 16 are connected with the free ends of the brace rods 13 and 14 and are provided with hooked ends which may be connected with the supporting arms of steps provided on the sides of the wagon box or may be connected with portions of the reeling or unreeling structure in a manner which will be hereinafter more fully described. These brace rods 13 and 14 have the turn buckle centers 17 and 18 which may be turned to adjust the length of the brace rods 13 and 14 to secure the proper tension and the springs 15 and 16 will act to resiliently hold the friction wheels 7 and 8 pressed against the wagon wheels 3 and 4 to be turned therewith and to cause turning of the shaft 6.

The shaft 6, is as has been hereinbefore set forth, extended at one end past the friction wheel and a spool or drum 19 is'mounted on the extended end of the shaft and is secured in place to turn therewith. rIhis arrangement of the winding drinn mounts the same in such relation that as the wagon wheels are turned the friction wheels will cause turning of the shaft 6 to wind wire onto the drum or reel in the one operation, and when the turn buckles 17 and 18 have been loosened suiiiciently these friction wheels will bear lightly against the wagon wheel and will hold the drum or reel 19 against too rapid turning movement in the unreeling of the wire, it of course being understood that as the tension may become tight in either the reeling or unreeling operations the friction wheels 7 and 8 will slip on the wheels 3 and 4 of the wagon.

To insure that the wire as wound upon the reel or drum 19 will run smoothly thereon, and also to prevent tangling of the wire as unreeled, it is preferable that a guide 20 be provided to be attached on the wagon box forwardly of the mounting of the bearing casing 5 and the remaining parts of the structure. As is shown, this guide comprises the cross bar 21 which is made of sufficient length to be somewhat longer than the width of the body or box 1 of the wagon and is provided with the downwardly extending pairs of arms 22 and 23. These arms as indicated at 22 and 23 have the set screws 24 passed therethrough and thus as'the member 21 is placed over the box with the arms 22 and 23 fitted down over the top edges of the side boards, the set screws 24 may be closed in to grip and-hold against the'side boards and to thus secure the member 21 rigidly mounted in place.A The extension portion of this member 21-has the guide arms 25 and 26 disposed to extend upwardly on the top side of the bar and a roller 27 is placedbetween Vthese` guide arms 25 and 26 so that as the wire is led between the same in either the reeling or unreeling operation the wire will be guided over this roller and friction will be relieved while at thesame time a straightlength of wire will be maintained between the guide structure and the reel or drum. In some adaptations it might be found d'esirable to connect the springs 15 and 16 with this bar 21, and I therefore provide the loops 28 and 29 on the outer arm of the pairs indicated at 2 2 and 23 and by connecting the hooked ends of the springs 15 and 16 through these loops, the brace rods 13 and 14 will be anchored and the proper fitting and securement of the parts will be maintained. Y

While I have intimated that the form of reel or drum as shown in Figs. 1` and 3 more particularly is perhaps the preferred form, it will be evident that any desired form of drum or reel might Vbe used to fit the particular conditions of operation, and in Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated a form of reel which might be usedin holding a roll of wire which is to'be unreeled, or for that matter is equally adaptable for wind ing a length of wire to form a roll. As is shown, the hub portion 30 has the set screws 31 'passed therethrough to have their inner ends positioned within the bore of the hub and Vthus as the hub is fitted on the shaft 6 and these set'screws are tightened the hub will be positively and the shaft and against turning movement. The radially extending spokes 32 are provided with the elongated slotted openings 33 which extend throughout the greater portion of their length and then it is preferable that the serrations or teethas indicated at 34 be provided on one side of the slotted portion of each of the arms.A The'wire carrying members 35 have slotted openings 36 therein and the slotted portions'are provided with the teeth as indicated at 37, it being the intention that the clamp bolt 38 shall be fitted' through the slotted `openings 33 and 36 of one of the spokes Vand of one of the wire carrying members 35and that as the clamp Vbolt 39 is's'creweddown this bolt shall secure the parts in the Vproper adjusted relation, the teeth at '34 and 37 acting these vforked ends and consequently Vthe wire is disposed and carried in a manner most rigidly secured on f s is shownin Fig. 7, these memilo " tus comprising a convenient for expeditious and proper handling in the unreeling operation. When the wire is to be wound upon a reel of the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the arms or wire carrying portions 35 will'be adjusted so that all will have the same extension from the hub and then as the reel is turned through the turning of the shaft G, the wire will be caught in the forked portions 30 of the wire carrying members and will be wound in a roll upon the reel after which the members 35 may be released and the roll may be removed.

iVhile in the foregoing I have intimated that the device of my invention is perhaps particularly adaptable for reeling and unreeling a line wire such as barbed wire or a plain wire, it will be evident that the device might be just as efliciently used in connection with a fence webbing, provided the webbing is not sufficiently wide to overbalance the wagon structure, and while it might be necessary to make some slight changes and modifications, it will be evident that the scope of my invention is sufficiently broad that it would embrace possible modifications of this nature, and further, while I have herein shown and described only specific forms of the various parts and features, itwill be clearly evident that a number of modifications and changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts of my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, in View of which fact I do not wish to be limited to the exact disclosure but only to such points as may be set forth in the claims.

claim:

l. A wire reeling and unreeling apparabearing casing made of a Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Washington, I). C.

greater length than the width of the box of a wagon on which the apparatus is to be fitted, means to mount said bearing casing on the upper edge of the box adjacent the wagon wheels, a shaft extended through said bearing casing and mounted therein to be capable of revoluble movement, bearing wheels secured on said shaft to engage with the wagon wheels and to cause turning movement to be imparted to the shaft, and a reel adjustably and interchangeably fitted on said shaft to be turned therewith.

A wire reeling and unreeling apparatus comprising a bearing casing made of a greater length than the width of the box of a wagon on which the apparatus is to be fitted, means to mount said bearing casing on the upper edge of the box adjacent the wagon wheels, a shaft extended through said bearing casing and mounted therein to be capable of revoluble movement, bearing wheels secured on said shaft to engage with the wagon wheels and to cause turning movement to be imparted to the shaft, a reel adj ustably and interchangeably fitted on said shaft to be turned therewith, an adjustable brace rod connected with said bearing casing, a spring connected between the adjustable brace rod and the wagon body to hold the friction wheels at the proper bearing against the wagon wheels, and means formed as a part of the adjustable brace rod to permit adjustment of the bearing engagement of the friction wheels.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAIVI H. FENTRESS. Witnesses:

Max E. BITTNER, N. S. CAMPBELL.

Commissioner et Patents, 

